The reason esperanto hasn't achieved the status of a second universal language is because it belongs to no nation and therefore no nation will invest in teaching it, because what's in it for them? A case of the usual short term thinking.

Nevertheless it was (is) a good idea and the language is still going strong 130 years after it was invented, in fact more people are learning it than ever before.

Bebediktus speaks it, and I'm learning it. To be honest though, I reckon that in the not too distant future there won't be any need for people to learn other languages because software will be developed for instantaneous translation. Linguists and developers are working hard on it right now.